Leonard John's Story.
Leonard John Gornall was born in Birkenhead on 16th December 1921 and before the war he was working as an apprentice mechanic. He enlisted in the RAF on 25th August 1939. His training isn’t known but he joined 15 Squadron RAF Bomber Command at RAF Wyton mid 1941 as a flight engineer on Stirling bombers.
Accident on 11th April 1942
His aircraft, Stirling N3703 was hit badly by flak on a mission to Essen, Germany but managed to return to England. After an aborted attempt at landing and having to go around again the aircraft crashed at Rectory Farm Cow Land Godmanchester near Huntingdon. 2 of the 8 crew on board were killed but Len survived with injuries and returned to 15 squadron after he recovered.
A memorial was erected near the crash site
15 Squadron Stirling
Len completed a 30 mission tour of operations with 15 Squadron then possibly went to 1651 CU as an instructor at RAF Waterbeach where he met pilot Thomas Charles Cooke. Tom Cooke was looking for a posting that was more exciting than instructing as was Len so Len joined 138 Special Duties Squadron at RAF Tempsford as part of Cooke’s crew on 13th September 1943. 138 squadron carried out missions in support of the Special Operations Executive ( SOE) in Europe including dropping supplies and agents.
138 Squadron Halifax
The Halifax bombers used by 138 Squadron were modified for Special Operations duties. Modifications included removal of mid upper gun turret, additional fuel tanks, additional door for agents to parachute from ( known as the " Joe Hole" and bomb bays modified for dropping supply containers
Cooke's crew at 138 Squadron.
Len’s missions with 138 Squadron as a member of Tom Cooke’s crew
4/5 October 1943 France
8/9 October 1943 Norway
11/12 October 1943 Norway
17/18 October 1943 France
5/6 November 1943 Germany and Belgium
On this mission the crew were surprised to see that they were carrying an agent dressed in Nazi uniform who parachuted into Germany.
7/8 November 1943 France
11/12 November 1943 France
17/18 November 1943 Norway
10/11 December 1943 France
On this mission they flew on to Blida in Algeria where they stayed for a few days before flying on to Brindisi in Italy.
Cooke's crew buying oranges in Algeria. Len third from right.
18/19 December 1943 Poland
Mission flown from Brindisi in Italy
22/23 December 1943 Return to UK from Brindisi via Blida
Note that the missions from 10th to 23rd December 1943 were not recorded in 138 Squadron Operation Record Book ( ORB) which may indicate that they were extremely secret in nature.
Mission on 7th February 1944
This was Len’s 48th mission. On the 7th February 1944 at 19.45hrs they took to the skies over Bedfordshire in a Halifax Mk2, LW275, their destination was Marseilles, their mission carried the code name ‘Jockey 5’. Besides Len, who was Flight Engineer, on board were Squadron Leader T C Cooke (Pilot), Flying Officer R Lewis (Navigator), Flying Officer J S Reed (Wireless Operator), Flying Officer Withecombe (Despatcher), Pilot Officer Bell (Bomb Aimer) and Flying Officer Beattie (Rear Gunner). Their very special cargo was Lieutenant Colonel Francis Cammaerts, a significant leader of the French Resistance as he was commander of SOE Jockey network operating in South East France, in addition to him parachuting behind enemy lines they also had vital supplies to drop to the Maquis. Everything went well until they were about an hour from the drop zone, they had flown above the clouds all the way, then suddenly the starboard inner engine caught fire. The fire was extinguished successfully and they continued, on their way; however, the loss of the engine meant that they could no longer hold and maintain their required altitude and the aircraft dropped slowly into the freezing clouds below. Immediately the aircraft started to ‘ice up’ and the situation rapidly deteriorated, the aircraft became unstable and with a crash now unavoidable Squadron Leader Cooke gave the instruction to bale out. All of the crew members managed to escape back to England after travelling through Spain to Gibraltar from where they flew to RAF Whitchurch . The details of Len’s journey are given in the MI9 escape and evasion report prepared after Len was interviewed upon his return to England. In his interview with MI9 following his return Len mentioned that during the time that he was staying with the French resistance he joined them on three raids against the Germans including one raid where they freed a resistance fighter from prison.
Francis Cammaerts on the left, with his French radio operator, Auguste Floiras, in April 1945.
Escape and Evasion Report 1.
Escape and Evasion Report 2.
Escape and Evasion Report 3.
Escape and Evasion Report 4.
Following his arrival in England Len was transferred to the PHU in Morecombe for rest and reported back for duty at 138 Squadron on 26 June 1944
Len was the only member of the crew to return to operations with 138 squadron. Tom Cooke suffered from injuries sustained when he bailed out and did not return to operations although he did fly again after the war.
Len Gornall continued flying with 138 Squadron until his death on 27th February 1945 on a mission to Norway. Len was awarded the DFC in 1944 as notified in the London Gazette 15th September 1944.
Len’s final mission on 27th February 1945
On the night of the 27th February 1945 Len was part of the crew of Stirling LK272, taking part in operation ‘Crupper 37’. On board that night was Acting Flight Lieutenant Cornwallis (Pilot), Pilot Officer Pepworth (Navigator), Warrant Officer Tovey (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner), Flying Officer Stanton (Air Bomber), Flight Sergeant Hagerty (Air Gunner) and Sergeant Cory (Air Gunner). In addition, they were carrying four Norwegian agents who were to be dropped behind enemy lines. The Stirling left Tempsford at 19.39hrs. Another Stirling witnessed the last moments of LK272, as it approached the Norwegian coast it was hit by flak and crashed into the freezing coastal waters. In the unlikely event that any of the crew had survived the crash, there was no possibility they could have survived long in the freezing arctic waters. Len, and the rest of the crew, have no known grave. However, he is remembered on the walls of the RAF Memorial at Runnymede.
Runnymede memorial
Notes.
1 Thanks to the members of ww2talk.com forum for their kind assistance in researching this profile
2 Thanks to Roger Leivers for assisting me in the research for this profile and for allowing me to use extracts from his book “ Stirling to Essen”. Copies of Roger’s book are available for purchase by contacting him at rogerleivers@yahoo.co.uk
3 Use has been made of information contained in T. C. Cooke’s biography “ Flying among Heroes” by Norman Franks and Simon Muggleton in the preparation of this profile.
